Creative Writing Workshop – January
28, 2013
By award-winning fiction writer and poet and creative writing teacher (Humber and George Brown Colleges) Richard Scarsbrook.
It
is interesting to take a creative writing workshop by a writer who is both
informative and a great speaker. With a creative personality sometimes I become
bored but not this time.By award-winning fiction writer and poet and creative writing teacher (Humber and George Brown Colleges) Richard Scarsbrook.
NOTES
If
you feel discouraged write anyway. You can always revise your story. Sometimes Richard
woke up and knew what the problem was and how to fix it.
Basically
it’s all about the story. You want to write a story that’s emotionally
rewarding for other people.
Writing Exercises
We did
writing exercises in his workshop. He gave us cue words to write. The cue words
reflected our life experiences. Richard explained that these words would evoke
memories that we had strong feelings about.
He
believed that with these cue words we would write a story that mattered. Later
we learned these cue words made up the parts of a story and he hoped that we’d
also included conflict.
When
we needed more ideas that didn’t include our memories he played instrumental
music and we were to go with our feelings and imagine a story. Some of his
students had used this method and their story was published.
“I’ve written short stories.
How do I put them together in a book?”
You
look for similar themes and string the stories together. What is the theme that
unifies them?
Plot
line – is a critical decision that infuses the lives of the characters? Could
it be what is destiny?
The
story has to add up to something. What did I learn about the planet or
humanity? Why are you telling these
stories? Every story is a blend of the author’s life. Why does this story
matter? If it matters, it will connect with your readers.
“How do you get a title for your book?”
RULES FOR GETTING A TITLE
1.
Always use great sounding words.
2.
Sometimes you’ll find the title in your body of work.
3.
Connect the title to something important that happens in your
story.
4.
Use unordinary words together that will draw the reader in. Richard
gave us the example of one of his titles: Cheeseburger
Subversive.
5.
Create fiction in the title and makes the reader think what is this?
Some
of the titles that Richard loved:
1.
Barney’s Version
2.
The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks
His
favourite authors:
1.
Richard Banks
2.
Philip K. Dick
3.
Ray Bradbury
Richard said, “Don’t ever use the title My Summer Vacation.
At
the February 24, 2013 HWG meeting, Judy mentioned that sometimes authors use lines from
Shakespeare. She gave the following examples:
1.
What Disturbs the Blood by James Fitzgerald
2.
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray
Bradbury
Judy and I talked about What Disturbs the
Blood – how the title enticed us to read the book.
“How do I find my voice?”
It
just happens. Don’t worry about it. It’s not that important. What’s important
is finding a story that matters that has a strong emotional connection with
your readers.
Style
is secondary and style happens. Telling a great story is your job as a writer.
Story is the most important
thing. The Skin of a Lion (is a novel
by Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje) is brilliant. You want to
finish reading Dan Browns books ‘cause he tells a compelling story.
You’ll
find your voice when you write a good story. Don’t let finding your voice
cripple you and prevent you from writing.
“How important is Spelling
and Grammar?”
He
says the same thing that my editor says: know
the rules so you can break them. You can always get help to fix your
spelling and grammar.
Mostly,
you want to use the active voice but sometimes you want to use the passive
voice.
When
you’re writing action scenes use short fragmented sentences.
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Check
out HWG blog: http://headwaterswritersguild.blogspot.ca/
for more information on upcoming workshops at the Orangeville Library.
for more information on upcoming workshops at the Orangeville Library.
Next workshop at Orangeville Library is Monday, March 25, 2013 -
Writing, Revising & Editing and Words: The Writer's Tools
March Break Creative Writing
Workshop
at The Milton Public Library
Thursday, March 14, 2013 - 1:30 – 4:00 p.m.
A creative writing workshop and Q and A session for
aspiring writers.
at The Milton Public Library
Thursday, March 14, 2013 - 1:30 – 4:00 p.m.
A creative writing workshop and Q and A session for
aspiring writers.
C
